"The only way you can win a war is to attack and keep on attacking, and after you have done that, keep attacking some more."- General George S. Patton Jr., January 1945

The M35A1, also known as the "Nancy," is an improvised fighting vehicle based on the M35 2 ton truck used as a cargo transported during the Vietnam War. The M35A1 variant is fitted with the M55 Quadmount with four M2 Browning machine guns used primarily as an anti-aircraft weapon in the back, and a single Coaxel M2 Browning in the front.

The vehicle was used to protect supply convoys that were being raided by the Viet Cong during the war. Although convoys were still raided with these in escort, the US lost much less convoy vehicles to raids after they were employed.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a US M35A1 gun truck that was deployed to Vietnam during1968.
Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Length: 3-3/4 inches
Width: 1-1/4 inches

Release Date: April 2014

Historical Account: "Hardened Convoys" - A military gun truck is an improvised fighting vehicle used by units of regular armies or other official government armed forces, based on a conventional cargo truck, that is able to carry a large weight of weapons and armor. They have mainly been used by regular armies to escort military convoys in regions subject to ambush by guerrilla forces.

During the Vietnam War, it was the mission of the US Army Transportation Corps to ferry supplies from the coastal ports of Qui Nhon and Cam Ranh Bay to inland bases located at Bong Son, An Khe, Pleiku, Da Lat, and Buon Ma Thuot. The logistical requirements of the MACV were huge, and 200-truck convoys were not uncommon. These formations were tempting targets for Viet Cong guerrilla groups, who often sprung ambushes in remote areas.

One unit that often fell victim to such attacks was the 8th Transportation Group, based in Qui Nhon. The stretch of Route 19 between An Khe and the Mang Giang Pass became known to them as "Ambush Alley" as incidents occurred there on an almost daily basis.

Providing security for convoys proved virtually impossible, as the Military Police units whose task it was did not have the manpower or equipment to control the whole highway. Other military units only controlled the stretch of road within their designated area of operations, and for much of the way, it fell onto the transport units to ensure their own security. At first they did this with armed jeeps, but these rapidly proved inadequate, in the face of improved Viet Cong weaponry and tactics.

On September 2nd, 1967, a particularly devastating attack killed seven drivers, wounded 17 and destroyed or damaged 30 trucks. To remedy the obvious vulnerability of the supply convoys, a "hardened convoy" concept was implemented, protected by a new type of security vehicle. This gun truck, as it became known, was based on the two-and-a-half-ton cargo truck, protected by a barrier of sandbags, and armed with two M60 machine guns. Hardened convoys were smaller than previously, being composed of only 100 trucks, and their security detail was increased until there was one gun truck for every 10 transport trucks.